Can I Trust You?
by Dignified Madman
Summary: After the battle on Third Earth Gunny must pick his acolyte.


**Title:** Can I Trust You?  
**Fandom:** Pendrgaon  
**Author:** Dignified Madman  
**Rating:** PG  
**Word count: **719  
**Summary: **After the battle on Third Earth Gunny must pick his acolyte.  
**Disclaimer:** I do not own these characters. They are the property of D.J. MacHale.

"What am I going to do?" Gunny muttered to himself. He was sitting in his room in the Manhattan Tower Hotel with his head in his hands. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He just couldn't seem to wrap his mind around the fact that they had won. The Travellers had won the battle on First Earth! But the cost was so high; 35 people died for the sake of the territory.

Gunny lifted his head. There was no point in dwelling on the past when there was so much more at stake in the future. There were still seven more territories that Saint Dane was threatening to destroy. But there was something he had to do before Bobby need his help. Gunny needed to choose his acolyte.

He pushed himself off of the bed and walked over to his oven. He let out a deep sigh and opened the door. Gunny pushed aside the bills he kept for storage and wrapped his long, slender fingers around the Traveller's Ring. It was cold against his warm skin and it weighed his hand down.

He closed the oven door and sat back down on his bed. Who could he trust with this secret? Who would be able to hold the weight of Halla on their shoulders? Gunny closed his eyes and tried to imagine everyone he knew with the responsibility of being an acolyte. As he went through his mental list, he could not picture anyone with this job. That was, until his good friend Dodger came to mind.

Dodger was perfect. He was responsible, trustworthy, and probably the last person one would suspect. Now that Gunny had the person, how would he approach him?

Gunny sat there pondering for a few minutes. He would first have to bring Dodger to his room, maybe invite him for a cup of coffee, and then he would tell him. It was the best he could come up with and he had to tell Dodger soon.

"It's now or never," he said, encouraging himself. He stood up and walked towards the door. His movements felt forced and awkward. "Come on Gunny, all of Halla is depending on you." Gunny put the ring in his pants pockets and opened the door.

"Woah, almost hit ya there," Dodger said cheerfully, his hand outstretched, ready to knock on the door. He chuckled a little before lowering the hand back to his side. "I just finished my shift and wanted to know if you wanted to play a game of poker, but you look kinda busy. I'll come back later."

Gunny stared at Dodger; this wasn't supposed to happen. He was going to use the time it took to find Dodger to refine his plan. Now he was going to have to wing it completely, "Actually Dodger," he said, trying to keep calm, "I was actually going to go look for you. Here come in. Want a cup of coffee?"

"Coffee sounds perfect," Dodger said, entering Gunny's room, "Where do you want me to set up the game?"

"Actually," Gunny said as he prepared the coffee, "There was something I wanted to talk to you about first."

"Alright then," Dodger said, slightly confused, "What's this about?"

Gunny put his hand back into his pocket and fingered the Traveller's ring, "Do you remember Pendragon and Spader?"

---

"Wow, Gun, that's crazy!" Dodger said, trying to make sense of all that Gunny told him.

"Yeah it is," Gunny said, giving Dodger a weary look, "So Pendragon might come back any day now and require my assistance. I'm going to need somebody to contact when I'm gone. I need somebody to watch after First Earth in case I don't come back. Dodger, I want that person to be you."

"Me?" Dodger said, stunned.

"You're the only person I can trust. I believe you can do it. I just want to know, will you?" Gunny reached into his pocket and pulled out the Traveller's ring. He held it out to Dodger, hoping that he would take it.

Dodger looked at the ring wide-eyed. "Gunny, I'll do anything for you." He took the ring from Gunny's outstretched palm and placed it on his finger.

"Thank you Dodger," Gunny said, relieved. He finally felt as if he could breath normally again.


End file.
